“I wish I would have spent more time with my family.” says an ex-CEO and a board member of few companies. “I believe happiness comes from those small moments.”.
No, you don’t.
Why, when there is a conversation about happiness we take someone who had success in a business and listen to them talk about their regrets of spending too much time working and all the other regrets they have.
Probably sitting in a spacious house, with cosy pension and passive income, all needs taken care off and the best healthcare money can buy. Now with all the time on their hands telling people what they would have done differently.
“Oh, I wouldn’t work so much. I would spend more time with family and friends. I would give more to my local communities.”
“But they just tell us advice on life, so we don’t repeat their mistakes.” You can say.
They don’t though. If someone would break a leg jumping from a shed and told you not to do it – that would be that kind of advice. What advice are they giving you is more of “I’ve made a lot of money in climbing the corporate ladder, but I would recommend you doing arts instead of what I did, you know… now when I have the passive income I picked up painting and I quite like it. Look what I’ve made. The thing that looks like poop is supposed to be a dog.”
Why don’t we ask some average Joe, who actually preferred family and things they liked in life. They’ve walked the talk. Oh wait, they are just regular Joes, who are happy just living their lives and they don’t need the attention.
And yes, naturally we have great people who talk openly about mental health and we should have them! But the space of happiness is full of hypocrites and people who are just trying to make some quick bucks.
Just above average 